Once upon a midnight dreary

Born this day in 1809, Edgar Allan Poe was a short story writer, poet and literary critic. Known as master of the macabre, Poe's life was a Hobbesian mess: poor, nasty, brutish, and short. He died broke and delirious at age 40 in 1849. And yet, his literary works continue to thrill millions of readers. Memorably quotes by Poe include: "All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry." "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." "Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality." Poe is best known for his famous poem, "The Raven," which begins: "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary / Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore / While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping / As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door." Good stuff.